


Lycanthropy: Friendship

by cfxcin02



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-05 09:51:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3115628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cfxcin02/pseuds/cfxcin02
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Melinda lived an ordinary life, or at least as ordinary as could be considering she was a werewolf. When her friend Steph discovers her secret and wants to be a werewolf too, things begin to change. News reports begin to emerge which lead Melinda to believe that trouble is brewing, and it seems to be connected to Steph, who is hiding secrets from Melinda. Things begin to happen quickly and before she knows it Melinda's world is thrown into chaos as she is forced to come to Steph's aid . (i am terrible with summaries, so please don't judge my story by summary alone)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is as product of being bored out of my skull during a two hour drive from my parents’ home back to where I live. I must emphasize a few things from the beginning. This story is adult in nature, it is not meant for immature audiences (hence my rating). If you are offended by violence, torture, nudity, sexual, suggestive and/or explicit language then this may not be the best story for you to read as it may at times get graphic as the warnings imply. I do not plan to get as graphic as a certain popular published author (who's well know for that sort of thing among other elements), but I am aiming for very intense at times.
> 
> The characters of this story (and eventually series) are INSPIRED by real people, but remain fictional creations of my own and are NOT representations of any real people. Most settings are real places and due to unfamiliarity with name usage rights I have changed the names of many locations to try and avoid any legal troubles.
> 
> This is my first original work and as you can imagine I'm not a professional writer by any stretch of the imagination. I know there are parts of this story that could be rotten better, and that there is probably a lot of grammatical errors, but they should not impact the story or the enjoyment of reading it.
> 
> lastly if you enjoy my story or have something you want to say about it in general, please feel free to tell me I’m always open to thoughts, ideas suggestions, critiques and general thoughts and comments; both positive and negative/constructive in nature. It is my intent to make this into a series so if there is something i can do to improve it I want to know.

The Night air was cool and crisp. It felt good as she breathed it in. The sky was crystal clear; she could see every star in the sky to be seen. Their light and the light from the moon illuminated the entire area.  
She glanced up at the moon’s position in the sky. It was almost time- she was sure of it. Double-checking against her watch, she saw that she had a little more than a minute. It was time for her to get ready. She took her shoes and socks off, and a chill ran up her spine as her bare foot touched the cool asphalt. It felt good, invigorating, intoxicating even, and she continued to undress removing everything. Gathering her clothes, she placed them on the floor of the backseat of her car, locked it and shut the door.  
  
She had the perfect hiding place secluded and dark enough that she could have her privacy, but public enough to not draw attention should she be seen. Set on the edge of Albany University’s campus Faith House was a small building with its own parking lot. It was set in a small wooded section helping it to remain inconspicuous and nobody would be around given the time of night. The main university road passed right by the driveway, but at that time of night it would see little traffic. Faith House was not something many people noticed to begin with, so anybody passing by would hardly even bother giving it a glance or wasting a single thought on it.  
The surrounding trees cast shadows tall shadows that hid the area to the common passerby. What few nearby streetlights there were could barely penetrate the dark, the best sources of light as small porch lights at either end of the building, but even they hardly lit the area at all; darkness still covered the area fairly well. Provided she was discrete she had very little to worry about. A better place for this ritual would be hard to find.

She knew it would begin any moment, and waited patiently for the final few seconds to tick off, which seemed to take forever. Finally, it began. It was subtle at first, but she knew what to expect and was able to feel it. At first, it was just her heart beating quicker -as much from adrenaline as the moon- and pumping blood throughout her body quicker, raising her body temperature. The cool night air more became more noticeable as a stark contrast against her warmer body. Her senses began to heighten; new smells came to her, her vision sharpened and . Physical changes began to occur; her arms, legs and thighs were thickening and becoming more muscular. She began to grow taller as a tingling sensation began to spread throughout her body. It was painful in some small ways; her muscles were being stretched beyond their limits and tearing. Bones were breaking as she grew taller, but feelings of pleasure and ecstasy quickly override the pain. She had already grown a foot taller and was still growing as the changes began to come quicker.  
Her finger and toenails grew longer and hardened, as did her fingers and toes becoming razor sharp claws. Her tailbone grew out stretching the skin around it as it grew into a tail. The pleasure and ecstasy were building to higher and higher levels. She straightened up tall as she could as her knees reversed their jointing. She had grown an extra foot and half and hair was beginning to grow over her body covering her with a thick coating of fur. Her ears grew larger and reshaped into a more animal like appearance, and finally, her faced morphed and took on wolf like features.  
The changes completed and as she reached the climax she let out a loud howl at the moon.

She was now a werewolf; her physical mass was towered over her normal form. To remain clothed before the transformation began would have resulted in her clothes ripping, tearing and being destroyed.  
Everything about her had improved; she was stronger than before, her reactions were quicker, her vision had sharpened, and she was able to run considerably faster.  
She wasted no time in taking off, her powerful legs driving her quicker than any normal human could. She knew right where she wanted to go. Her favorite hunting place was a park that by car was an hour away, but she wasn’t driving there. Between not having to stick to the roadways, taking enough shortcuts and her incredible speed, it only took 20 minutes.  
It was a wooded park that during the day could offer a spectacular view of the city and land between there and the park. Other parts of the park offered their own spectacular scenic views of nature and wild life all around; a perfect place for a hunt.

She hadn’t eaten all day and it had been a while since she had any real good fresh meat. Most days if she chose to eat wild game it would be small animals like rabbits and squirrels. She was far too hungry to settle on something so small; she set out with the determination to catch herself something good. The wait wasn’t very long before she spotted a young deer 50 yards out; it never stood a chance. It spooked at her first movement, but wasn’t quick enough. The deer ran five yards, but she went 15. Another five for the deer and another 15 for her, five more for the deer and twenty for her.  
The adrenaline from the thrill of the hunt was driving her even quicker, and when she got the gap down to five yards, she leapt and caught the deer around the neck knocking it to the ground. She quickly sunk her claws into the deer’s chest sinking them down into the lungs and ripping the deer open. The deer twitched for a brief moment then died; she had her kill.

 

The night was growing old and she could begin to see rays of light peeking up from the distant horizon. It was time to head back; the sun would be up soon enough. It had been a very good night and she was ready to pack it in. Besides, if she returned now, she would still have all the same privacy she’d had when she transformed earlier that night.  
When she returned to her car she knew her time was nearly up by the amount of daylight she could see -it was at times like this she wished she could manage to keep a watch on her. All she could do now was wait for it to happen. Being careful to stay hidden, she made a quick patrol of the area and found that it was all clear. A few seconds later, it happened. Over the course of the next minute she reverted back to her normal human form. All the same changes; all the same feelings building up inside her climaxing as the transformation completed. This time however she resisted the urge to give in and cry out with pleasure.  
As a wolf she could howl with pleasure and ecstasy and it would scare people away or just get disregarded as some wild animal. Either way it did not expose her to any major amounts risk. However, when transforming back, that was considerably different. To give in and cry out could easily draw the attention of anyone nearby as an invitation to violate her privacy, which she wasn’t particularly keen on for many reasons; the least of which was that she was completely naked.

The chill on her on her skin made her anxious to get dressed. She made another quick glance around to be sure she hadn’t missed anybody then bent down beside her car and lifted it off the ground ever so slightly. She lifted it just high enough to raise the tire off the ground revealing a key hidden underneath it. She slid it out with her foot, set the car back down, picked the key up, unlocked the door, and began to dress. Fatigue was setting in as she got in her car and started it. Five minutes later, she was crawling into her bed and drifting off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Her alarm went off and she forced herself out of bed. If it weren’t for a quiz he would have turned the alarm off, skipped class and gone back to sleep. Instead, she turned it off, grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. She was looking forward a nice hot shower to help wake her up. She was extra thankful not to live in a traditional dorm; instead, she stayed in an apartment style dorm with plenty of amenities. Right now though, the biggest benefit to her was that she only had to share her bathroom with one other person.  
The shower felt better than she had expected, and she didn’t want to get out. As the water washed over her, aches and pains that she hadn’t been aware of vanished; stiff muscles that had gone unnoticed relaxed. She couldn’t help but wonder when the last time she had transformed was. A week maybe? It had to be; she worked back the days in her mind and it had to be. It had been a week since she last got any fresh wild meat that wasn’t small game; that had been the last time she had gone for a hunt, and it had been nearly two months since she went out as a wolf just for the heck of it.  
A week; that certainly explained why she was so stiff and sore, she hadn’t stretched or used her muscles in such a fashion in a week. Her schedule and been very packed for the last couple of weeks and if it hadn’t been for the full moon she would have stayed in and actually gotten a decent night sleep. And for the second straight night, if it weren’t for the moon she would stay in and sleep, but the full moon wouldn’t allow for it; and nor would it allow for rest on the following night either.  
She was running herself ridged and was beginning to notice the toll it was taking on her. Nonetheless, she continued to burn the candle at both ends; long hard days and late nights with little sleep in between. She couldn’t find any other option, she had too much going on that she couldn’t get away from; she had no time to slow down and rest, even though she knew she needed to, and what could happen if she didn’t.

With her shower over, she quickly got herself ready and was on her way to class. It was in a large lecture hall, and once there she grabbed a seat near the rear. She preferred it there; if the professor’s lecture ever got to lengthy and/or boring she could easily take a short nap or slip out unnoticed. Within minutes, the professor walked in all by himself; no TA’s, and instantly she could tell that there would be no quiz. She knew that the professor felt that the hall and class size were too large to properly administer a quiz or test; the temptation for cheating was too great and too hard to police by himself; she’d dragged herself out of bed and to class for nothing.  
Forced to sit through the lecture she wasted no time in leaving the very second the class was over. She had a half hour break before her next class and was not feeling all that awake and/or alert. Her shower that morning had felt amazingly good, but had not helped her to wake up. Coffee seemed to be in order so she headed for the coffee shop in the Campus Center.

For the most part the campus was one massive concrete complex known as the podium. Around the outside of it various buildings were positioned making it a relatively short walk from any one point to another; but despite the short distance it tended to take a little longer to get out of the lecture halls. They were located at the center of the podium, but one level down around a shallow pool with a fountain in the center. The stairs up from the lecture halls were narrow and usually filed with a massive crowd trying to go both ways on them at the same time. To avoid the crowd would add a fair amount of extra time and distance to the walk to get back up to the main level. This presented her with a bit of a dilemma; she could try to make her way through the crowd or go the long but easier way. The crowd was moving fairly quick so she decided to go with it and made her way through; eventually she made it to the coffee shop only to find a line a mile long; she was faced with a dilemma. If she stood in line and waited she would end up late to her next class; or she could turn back and get a coffee out of one of the vending machines located in the lecture halls, but those machines served some of the worst coffee she had ever had. Her next class was once again in one of the giant lecture halls, which would allow her to slip in late unnoticed. She made up her mind, got in line and began to wait. Twenty minutes later she walked out with her coffee in hand.   
It had taken her five minutes to get form the lecture halls and she was looking at least another five to get back. It would be close but there was a chance that she wouldn’t be too awfully late. She did her best to hurry but given the size of the crowd; moving quickly was basically out of the question. The crowd was thick enough that she decided to take the longer route back down to the lecture halls and ultimately ended up ten minutes late. She began mentally scolding herself for standing in that line and that next time she should just deal with it and get a vending machine coffee. She had scolded herself many times before on this vary same issue, but she never changed.  
It was odd when she walked into the room, no professor. She found a seat, settled in and began to keep an eye on her watch. She had heard of the 15-minute rule; in High School she had earned herself a few different detentions for enacting it but she thought it a rumor in college. If your teacher (or now that she was in college, professor) was more than 15 minutes late class was canceled. She was in the second half of her junior year and never seen anybody enact it; but then again, she’d never actually seen a professor be more than five minutes late. She checked her watch again, she had the professor at thirteen minutes late; the class was murmuring and she began to debate what to do if the professor didn’t show up in the next two minutes. This professor liked to give out unannounced quizzes and they were due for one, she wasn’t crazy about missing one of them; her mark in the class wasn’t very high and a missed quiz wouldn’t help it one bit. At fifteen minutes a few people got up and left, then over the next five minutes a slow stream of people got up and left. When she checked her watch again the professor was twenty minutes late, and half the class had already left. Five more minutes and she’d had enough, and so had what was left of the class.  
She now had close to four hours before her final class of the day -when normally she only got two and a half. With all her extra time, she decided to head back to her dorm and grab an early lunch.   
Most days’ lunch was something small, simple and quick; throw it in the microwave for a minute or two, grab it and eat it on the run; she rarely had time for anything else. This was her one day a week that she had time to make something more and even then she normally didn’t bother since she would be busy with school work. Today however she had extra time, and little schoolwork to concern herself with -at least little that she needed to do right then; so she took advantage of the first thing to go right for her that day and opted for something nicer and fresher. In the refrigerator there was some leftover chicken from a few nights back; she took it out, cut the meat from the bone placed it in a frying pan, fried it up with some fresh seasoning and placed it between a couple of pieces of toasted bread with some veggies.  
She shared the suite with three others, but had her own individual room giving her complete privacy whenever she wanted it. As she sat down at her desk she turned on the TV to watch the afternoon news. Just as she turned to the correct channel a new story came on; a wild animal attack. It had been at the very edge of the viewing are -a good hour and a half away if you took the highway. It wasn’t even close to her but she couldn’t help but feel something was funny about the attacks. The news gave no indication that it was anything more than a rabid animal that had wondered into town and had gotten frightened, but there was something more there though; she didn’t know what, but her instincts were telling her that there was more to this than what the news was saying. Her instincts were driving her towards a specific scenario that was very different; a scenario that troubled her greatly.

* * * * *

She had tried to take a nap after lunch but had been unable to relax enough to let sleep come to her. The extra down time was nice to have, but was not very rejuvenating. The caffeine form her coffee had done its job a little too well. The rest of the day went by uneventfully until her slip up.

 

She had grown up Catholic and found herself falling in with The Newman Association (the campus’ catholic faith group), and made friends with them and fit in better than she ever could have expected. Of all the events and activities that they did, only two occurred on a consistent weekly basis. The first was Sunday mass on campus, but she could never make it. She happened to have a talent for the Piano and through a mix of circumstances that she still didn’t understand, she had been recruited to play at a local church that held their service at the same as the Newman mass. This left only Thursday night’s, Mass and Dinner. Held at Faith house the name said it all; a worship service followed by a meal cooked by one of their members. She hated missing it, and made it a point to attend regularly.  
What made it so wonderful was how the after dinner activities were so unpredictable and the fun that would always ensue. Sometimes it was board games, others card games; many times they would just sit around chatting about anything in general (and even that would inevitably develop into laughing and joking around), there had even once been a table read for a screenplay that one of the members had been writing. The after dinner activity was never predictable and that provided part of the fun in itself. If nothing else, it provided her with some quality time with many of her friends that she rarely got any other day of the week.

On this night the after dinner activities started out harmless enough; she sat around in the back corner of the community/dining room of with a group of five friends. That corner of the room had two small couches perpendicular to each other and always seemed to be the popular hangout spot after dinner. She sat on one of the couches with her best friend Leda next to her, and some of her other friends taking the remaining spots. Samantha (Sam), Kaitlyn, and Nicole had taken the other couch with Stephanie (Steph) having pulled up a chair to join in the conversation. The group was immersed in laughing and giggling over the conversation when it took a new turn. She couldn’t remember why but suddenly a pillow came flying from Kaitlyn directed at her. All she remembered was the pillow that hit her and the pillow fight that erupted because of what came next.  
She threw the pillow back missing and hitting Nicole instead. Nicole threw back but also missed hitting Leda. From there it was an all-out war. At some point the pillow fight evolved into a dual between her and Leda as they took turns smacking each-other in the head with pillows until it was taken to a new level. Leda decided to take advantage of the fact that she was ticklish and attacked.   
She had always been ticklish and the heightened senses that came with her condition made it even worse. For all any of the others knew it was simply that she was extremely ticklish, and that it was a perfect form of torture since she hated being tickled so much.

She jumped off the couch with a screech as soon as she felt Leda’s fingers touching her. Immediately she put a couple of feet between Leda and herself, but Leda wasn’t done. She started forward as if she was going to lunge at Melinda and tackle her to the ground in order to continue the assault. It had been a feign but Melinda didn’t wait around to see that. She immediately took off going the long way round the room and exiting to run down the hall to the other end of the building. Leda gave chase, but it was a futile effort as Melinda was considerably quicker than any of her friends, and wasn’t holding back.  
Due to the layout and size of the room she wasn’t able to get up to top speed which very easily could have raised a lot of questions once others realized she was a lot faster than an Olympic gold medalist. Just the same, she had gotten away with ease, and slowly she began to walk calmly and carefully back to the dining room. All seemed calm until she re-entered the room and Leda popped out at her and the chase re-ensued. She circled the room in reverse and as she approached the couches, she lost her footing. She stumbled and dived onto the couch straight ahead of her. During the chaos, Nicole and Kaitlyn had moved to the other couch, leaving plenty of room for her as she landed and scurried behind Sam intent on using her as a human shield against Leda, completely unaware of what she had just done in that spilt second of landing and hiding.

“Ouch,” Sam cried out, “Thanks Melinda, you just scratched me.” Sam said between laughs, “You should think about clipping your nails or something.”

Her heart leapt into her throat, in that one terrible horrifying moment she froze with fear. Leda and the others were laughing hysterically at the episode, but she could only hear the cold dread that was rising up inside her. She looked down at her hands, perfectly normal human hands. Her nails were a little on the long side, and long enough that she could have inadvertently scratched Sam; but when she glanced at Sam’s arm, she could see the damage done. Her nails were not long enough or sharp enough to break skin, as she could see had happened on Sam’s arm; it dawned on her in an instant what had happened.   
In fleeing from Leda she had let instinct guide her; she had brought part of the wolf to the surface to help her escape, but must have brought it out more than she realized. It had to have been ever so subtle; she hadn’t felt the transformation at all. Normally even when distracted she could feel the slightest of change; but burring the candle at both ends had finally caught up with her. The fatigue in her body must have dulled her senses to the point that she didn’t notice when her fingernails began transforming into claws; and when Sam had told her of the scratch the fear triggered an instinctive reaction that caused her claws to revert.  
Regardless of the how and why, it was done; she and just infected Sam and turned her against her will; a nightmare come true. It had been an accident but that didn’t change the results any. The only thing worse would be if she had actually killed somebody, though she might as well have; for the life Sam knew was essentially over and that was putting it lightly.


	3. Chapter 3

She was careful to keep her distance from her friends for the rest of the night to avoid another accident; she couldn’t be sure if she truly did have full control and the only way to be sure was to rest up and get her strength back. She would have left early and gone to bed, but it was full moon time; sleep wasn’t happening. Even more was that she needed to talk to Sam; she needed to explain what was about to happen to her, about what she had become; she needed to get Sam some place safe.

When Sam was finally ready to leave and Melinda followed her out. She was thankful that nobody else was around; pulling Sam aside would be a little less awkward and suspicious. The hour was late, she had just enough time to get Sam to the only safe place she knew of before the full moon would be in position and their transformations would begin. She had enough control that she shouldn’t need to lock herself up; but Sam wouldn’t have the slightest degree of control and would be a wild animal, and that could lead to a number of places each as disastrous as the next.

“Sam, wait up a sec, I need to talk to you.”  
“What’s up?”  
“You’re not going to believe me, but here it goes anyway.” She took a deep breath, “I’m a werewolf and earlier I accidentally infected you turning you into one as well.”  
Sam remained silent for a moment and stared at her like she was crazy.  
“I realize you probably think I’ve lost it but I haven’t and I’ll prove it to you.”

She held her hands up for Sam to see and began to transform. Her nails grew into claws, she grew a few inches taller, her face became more wolf-like and fur grew along her face and arms. She could see that Sam had gone wide-eyed and frozen with fear, so she reverted to her normal self.

“I have a lot to explain to you and teach you but there isn’t time for any of that now. There isn’t a lot of time left before you’ll transform into a wild dangerous, out of control monster. I needed to get you a safe place that I know of where you can spend the night, and then in the morning I can start to explain things to you. If we hurry we can get there with enough time to spare that I can actually start explain a few basic things for you.”  
Sam was still too petrified to speak or move.  
“Look, Sam, I know this is a lot to take in but we need to move. She grabbed Sam’s arm and attempted to drag her along but Sam shook herself free. “Sam I told you, we need to move.” A hint of desperation was creeping into Melinda’s voice; the clock was ticking away and she was wasting time standing there pleading with Sam.  
“Just give me a minute.” Sam’s voice was trembling. “I was just told that I’ve been turned into some sort of hideous, mindless, ravaging beast and you expect me to just be willing to go running off following you just like that; the person that turned me into a freak?”  
“Look, I remember what it was like when I first became a werewolf; I thought my life was over but I learned to control it and it’s actually amazing; I love it and wouldn’t give it up for anything.”  
“Amazing? What’s so amazing about being a mindless monster?” Sam’s voice was shaking; she was on the verge of tears.  
“That’s just it, 90% of what you think you know about werewolves are just stereotypes built by Hollywood; you don’t have to be a mindless beast; I can help you to learn to control it.” She tried to make her voice as soothing and reassuring as she could.  
“Yeah like you controlled it earlier when you made me into a freak?” Sam spat back angrily.  
“That was an accident brought on by a multitude of factors, in the end though it was ultimately my fault; human error, and I regret it terribly. This isn’t something that should be forced on someone but unfortunately I did; but once you learn the full benefits you’ll find that it’s not so bad.”  
“Benefits? Like what? A nice warm fur coat?”   
The disdain was more than evident; it bordered on contempt all directed right at her and making her feel all the worse for infecting Sam. She clearly couldn’t get past all the stereotypes that had been built up in movies, books and folklore; but there wasn’t time to dwell on it, she had to convince Sam to come with her, she had to get Sam somewhere safe.  
“For starters, amazing strength.” She leapt from where she was standing and landed on the roof of Faith house then leapt back to the ground. “That same strength allows me to lift objects with ease that Olympic weight lifters have to train for months to lift. I can run faster than any normal human and I have the endurance to go with it. I once ran for ten miles straight at speeds that would break the world record for the 100m, and I didn’t need to stop or slow down once, and when I finally did stop I was barley winded. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.”  
Sam still stood looking at her with horror, “What sort of freak have you turned me into?” She turned to run away but only was able to make it a few steps.  
“Sam, I’m sorry to have to do this to you, but I can’t chance that you’ll infect others or possibly kill someone.” She leapt forward tackling Sam to the ground. “If you won’t come willingly I’ll just have to force you.” With a single mighty blow she punched Sam as hard as she possibly could knocking her unconscious.

She quickly gathered her friend throwing her over her shoulder and taking off into the trees. Just over an hour and a half later she arrived at the mouth of a cave. She checked the moon’s position and then her watch; she’d misjudged the moons position earlier and underestimated how much time she had to get Sam to safety. Something had finally gone her way; but despite having more time than she originally thought her watch told her that the remaining time was short nonetheless; there was no mistaking it this time.  
She set Sam down and carefully made her way over to a hidden generator and started it up giving life to a series of wall lights a short ways into the cave. She went back to the entrance and retrieved Sam taking her to the deepest part of the cave where a cage stood; she laid Sam down and shut the cage door locking it. Finally able to take a minute for herself she backed up against the wall and slid down to the floor breathing heavily.

“I’m going to feel that in the morning.” She began to rant aloud to herself between breaths. “Ask me to leap on top of a three story building from where I stand… no problem. Run faster than Olympic sprinter… ha. Lift up a two-ton car; piece of cake... Ask me to combine all of those into one simultaneous task… I’ll reconsider my no killing policy.”

As she continued ranting to herself Sam began to stir as she awoke.

“Where am I?” She asked groggily.  
“To be honest I’m not exactly sure since I rarely come out this way. I know we’re somewhere southwest of campus and a good long way at that. What I do know for certain is the way here and back perfectly, so if you want to get back to campus you’re just going to have to trust me.  
“Now the full moon is almost in position and soon you’ll begin to transform. To make sure you don’t do something you’ll regret later I’ve had to lock you in that cage for the night. In the morning I’ll let you out and lead you back to school.  
“In the meantime though you’ll just have to wait and endure the loss of control you’re going to experience in just a bit. I can offer you a little bit of help in the meantime; you need to strip down and slip your cloths outside the cage.”  
“What?” Sam was still a little groggy but well aware of her surroundings and could remember what had happed outside of Faith House, but was completely confused by this request.  
“I realize what that sounds like and if it makes you that uncomfortable just strip down to your bra and panties. When you transform your body will grow and end up ripping your clothes as you become too big for them and they will be unwearable. Then once you do transform you’ll be trying to find a way out of the cage and in the midst of your thrashing about there is a fair chance you could end up destroying your clothes if you leave them in the cage with you.”

Sam hesitantly took her advice, striped down, and slipped her clothes through the cage bars. With nothing more that she could do she left Sam to her privacy and headed out to the mouth of the cave where she too stripped down. It was less than ten seconds later that the transformation occurred. Just like the night before it began with the subtle but noticeably quicker heart rate, the thickening of her limbs and thighs from the added muscle mass. She began growing taller and all familiar feelings of pleasure and pain came upon her as the transformation began to quicken. Her fingers and nails became the razor sharp claws that had scratched and infected Sam. Her tail began to form, and by this point normally the changes would be beginning to finish up; but not tonight; tonight was a true full moon, that meant that its power over her was increased and the transformation was even greater. She was growing still as were her limbs and thighs as the fur began to grow and her face morph. The extra changes only took an extra few seconds and when it was finally over she stood close to nine feet tall and more muscular than the biggest body builder. Her fur was thicker and more shaggy and her face was even more wolf like. Any other night there was still some small human resemblances in her appearance but not tonight; tonight the only similarity that was visible with the naked eye was that she was a biped. The climax had been far more powerful but she was too tiered to enjoy the transformation as she normally would, and instead despite being extremely tired she took off at top speed. Her time was limited so she had no time to take it easy. 

While carrying Sam to the cave she’d had time to think and had decided to go investigate the attack she had heard about on the news earlier that day. The biggest problem was that it would take half the night for her to get out there and just as long to get back. She wanted to be back at the cave by time Sam reverted back to human so she didn’t have to leave her locked up in the cage any longer than necessary; it was bad enough that in this one night she was going to undergo a ton of changes that would freak her out without much explanation. Leaving her locked in that cage alone and frightened even a second longer than absolutely necessary would be too cruel. The irony of it was that while she was worried about cruelty towards Sam, she was cruelly punishing herself.  
She swore to herself that once this moon was over she was going to sleep for a week straight. She’d burned the candle at both ends for too long and paid a heavy price. Carrying Sam to the cave at the speed she had had been rough on her and this race against the clock was going to do her in. She had almost made it out of this moon; all she should’ve had to do was survive the day and then the next would just be devoted to school and the night to the wolf and nothing else in between. Then she would have the weekend to rest, recover and recuperate. She had almost walked that thin line without falling off; but at the last possible moment she had failed.

She made good time giving herself a full hour to investigate the scene of the attack before she needed to head back. She started by skirting around the edges of the town and at the furthest edge from where she had arrived she picked up a trail of odd scents. They led away from the town into a heavily wooded area and following in tandem were marks in the ground; marks that could only have been made by a set of animal claws.   
A mile into the woods she found a concentrated patch of the scents, and the ground there seemed to me matted down a little more than it should have; something had been laying there for a while. She searched the area for any more clues but could find nothing; the scent trail had gone cold.  
Having reached a dead end she began to follow the trail back into the town. There she encountered countless other scents that helped to mask the ones she had been following, but not completely covering them up. Her progress was slow, but she was able to find the scene of the attack; the scent trail had led her to it. The scent hung heavy in the air, and blood stained the ground; but that was to be expected. She took a good look at the stains but found nothing odd about them –she wasn’t sure what she could find that would be out of the ordinary anyway.  
Nothing she found lead away from the wild animal attack story, nor did it lead to it. The scents she had been following were so mixed that she couldn’t identify what they were or how many there were; she wasn’t good at identifying what animals had what scents anyway. Despite that, she could tell when something belonged in the wild and something that was man made; and this was a weird mix. With no other leads she followed the scent trail onwards, but lost it as she came near a strip of restaurants. There various aromas coming from their kitchens were to strong and had permeated the area to the point that even though they were shut down, it still was strong enough to overpower any other scents; she had reached a dead end; her trip had been a failure.

 

She arrived back at the cave with no time to spare. Just as she reached the mouth of the cave she felt the changes beginning to take place and she reverted back to her normal self. She hadn’t intended to make it that close but despite the dead end she had tried to follow the trail through the restaurant strip anyway in hopes of seeing something that was out of place or getting lucky and picking up the trail again on the other side of the strip. It had been for naught though forcing to hurry back to the cave just to call it as close as she did. Once dressed she went to the back of the cave where Sam now sat huddled in a corner clearly frightened by the events that had transpired over the last handful of hours. She tossed Sam her clothes telling her she would be back in five minutes so she could have her privacy while getting dressed. Once she was out of sight Melinda leaned back against the wall and slid down it collapsing in exhaustion. Nearly every fiber of her body ached and she just wanted to sit there and sleep. At the end of her five minutes though she forced herself up and went to talk to Sam.  
The scene was almost identical to the one she had seen before; Sam huddled up in a corner of the cage –the same corner in fact- scared out of her mind. The only difference that she could see was that Sam was now dressed. So much had happened in the last twelve hours that it made her head spin to think about it. Less than twelve hours ago she had infected her friend, then a few hours after that knocked her out and left her locked in a cage only telling her to strip down, then abandoned her for the night. She stood by the last few actions firm and unwavering and if in that exact same scenario again she would do everything the exact same way, but she doubted Sam would see things in the same light.

“I’m going to let you out and I won’t try to stop you, but if you want the easiest and quickest way back to school don’t try to escape.” She said to Sam as she took the key from the wall to unlock the cage door.  
She unlocked and opened the door; Sam remained frozen with fear in her corner of the cage.  
“Now you probably could do with some answers. Now, where to begin…  
“Well I suppose the fact that you transformed back into human this morning might be a good place to start. Right now whenever you transform into a werewolf you will be a mindless beast, aware the whole time of what you are doing but completely out of control. All other times you are -for all intents and purposes- an ordinary girl -just with amazing strength and all the other enhanced abilities. If you let me I can teach you the full extent of your abilities, and how to control the wolf in you.”

Over the course of the next hour she taught Sam the basics of being a werewolf to the best of her ability. It wasn’t easy since she lacked the necessary supplies. Sam remained silent the entire time not moving from her corner until Melinda finally offered to lead her back to campus. Once she finally returned Melinda went straight back to her room and laid down. Fridays were a light day for her having only two classes. She’d tests in both at the start of the week so skipping them wouldn’t be that harmful. A long day of sleeping was in order.

Evening came and she met up with Sam and she took her back out to the cave. Once Sam was locked safely away Melinda whet off on her own until morning. When morning came, she once again began to teach Sam about being a werewolf; this time she had what she needed. Once she was satisfied that Sam would be able to control the wolf enough to not be a danger to herself or others, she took her back to campus. Sam had followed Melinda to the cave in silence and did the same on the return trip; speaking only to voice concerns that she had and were well justified.

Things could have been worse though; it was now very apparent that Sam was going to resist what had happened to her, but agreed to lock herself away each time the full moon came around. Secretly in the back of her mind she had hoped that Sam would be a lot more accepting and embrace being a werewolf like she had, but instead she would remain alone. That was the worst part to her, having nobody she could share her secret world with; being alone.


	4. Chapter 4

The weekend gave her the time she needed to rest up and get back to full strength. By Monday everything in her life seemed to be settling back to normal including her friendship with Sam -who seemed to have forgiven her for the scratch. Not only was life returning to normal, but a calm normal -which while a little late was welcomed all the same.  
By Tuesday she felt good enough that she decided to go out for the night. She pulled her car into the Faith House parking lot and went through her normal routine. She stopped a little short in the parking space, got out, placed her spare key on the ground in front of the left rear tire, got back in the car and pulled the car forward the rest of the way into the space running over the spare key so it was hided beneath the tire. She then proceeded to undress placing her clothes on the floor of the back seat, locked the car doors, shut them, transformed and was on her way. When she returned in the morning she retrieved her spare key and dressed.

“Melinda.” A voice called out to her just as she was ready to get into her car to leave. She looked all around but could not find anybody. Convinced she had imagined it she started to get into her car again.  
“Melinda.” She heard the voice again, and this time she saw who had called out to her. Her friend Steph was walking out from around the nearest corner of the building.  
“Steph, what are you doing out so late?” She asked a touch of nervousness in her voice. She wasn’t sure how she had missed Steph during her patrol before transforming back, but figured she had just gone about it too quickly which meant it was possible she had missed even more.  
“I could ask you the same thing, but I’ll spare you the trouble of making up a spur of the moment story and cut right to the chase. I know you’re a werewolf.”  
She stood frozen with fear. Any number of things could be about to happen, but the only ones that came to her mind were all the ones that involved her either ending up dead, or having to run for her life.  
“What?”  
“You can relax; you’re not in any danger. I’ve known about werewolves for a long time and have spent a considerable amount of time researching and learning all I could about them. I’ve suspected you for a few months and then the other night at Mass and Dinner when you scratched Sam I saw it in your eyes that you had just done something bad.  
“After that I waited outside to try to catch and talk to you. I ended up overhearing what you told Sam and saw your little demonstration. You took off before I could reveal myself to you; so since then I’ve hidden out here a few different times hoping to catch you.  
“The bottom line is I want to know more; I want to experience it; I want to be a werewolf like you.”  
Fear no longer kept her frozen in place, instead now it was shock and confusion; she had no clue what to say or do. She suspected that Sam must have felt something like this after being told she had become a werewolf.  
“Melinda?” Steph waved a hand in front of her face.  
“Wait a second; you actually want to be a werewolf? You do realize there is no way to reverse it and that once you become one you have a raw primal rage and furry that is always present inside you looking to get out? It is not as easy to control as it looks and if you can’t control it, it could easily take over and essentially end your life.”  
“Like I said, I saw your demonstration for Sam and again a little while ago when you lifted up your car to retrieve that key. If that is only a small sample, I can only imagine what the rest is like. Besides that small sample alone is enough to make it worth that risk.”  
It sounded too good to be true.  
“Being a werewolf doesn’t give you a license to be a monster and/or do whatever you want. I fight real hard to make sure I don’t hurt others and am in no way proud of what I did to Sam.”  
“I get that, I really do. I don’t want to be a werewolf so I can be some ruthless killing machine. I totally get that there’s a tremendous amount of work and responsibility that goes with it, and I am willing to pay that price.  
“Look, you’ve tried to scare me away, and rightfully so, but I still want it just the same. I’m also making the choice; you wouldn’t be forcing anything on me. You’ve tested me with your scare tactics to make sure I want it for the right reasons and I’ve told you that I do.”

Steph was right, she had been testing her –even though she hadn’t meant to, and the test had been passed with flying colors, and she did want to turn her; Steph was showing signs that she could be the person she could finally share her world with. Steph clearly understood what it was that she was asking for, but did she truly understand the risks? If she did turn Steph and taught her to control it she would no longer be alone, she would finally have somebody to share all of it with.  
But what if Steph couldn’t control it, what if it took over, what then? Steph was willing to pay her part of the price, but Melinda wasn’t sure if she was willing to pay hers. It was cliché as hell, but she had to keep in mind: with great power comes great responsibility, and being a werewolf gave her that great power the cliché warned about. She had gotten careless before and was responsible for siring Sam, and while this wouldn’t be under the same circumstances she would still hold a degree of responsibility for whatever happened to Steph, and anything she did. So many things that could go wrong and each was undesirable as the next.  
Steph was new to the group having transferred in back in the fall and though she had fit right in, but had shown no strong signs as to her toughness and strength. Melinda ran everything she knew about werewolves through her mind and if it turned out Steph couldn’t handle it there would be certain warning signs; Steph’s life would be ruined, but the damage could be minimized. While damage could be made minimal, it didn’t change the fact that Steph’s life would be over all because she had given in and said yes. The question was, could she allow herself to be responsible for completely destroying somebody’s life; a friend’s life?  
Would it even be her fault? She had warned Steph before of the dangers beforehand and Steph had come to her seeking to become a werewolf; she had played no part in planting the idea in Steph’s head. Was she to blame if somebody else took a deadly risk that didn’t pay off?  
However, she would have played a part in that risk.

Her head filled with every possibility and every dilemma that could come from this situation; all the thoughts and turmoil made her head spin. Finally she made her decision.

“If I turn you, you have to do everything I tell you until you learn to control it. That may mean being locked in a cage or chained up.”  
“If you tell me to I’ll fuck you or any one you want me to.”  
“Okay… While I get the message, a simple yes would have sufficed, and there’ll be no need to go that far.”  
“Yes!” Steph exclaimed. Though it sounded like excitement, she couldn’t help but think she heard a little bit of relief mixed in there subtly, but she brushed it off chopping it up to her imagination still working overtime.  
“So how does this work exactly? Do you need to bite me or something?”  
“Not even, just a simple scratch like what I did to Sam will get it done. Meet me back here tonight around eight and we’ll get under way.”


	5. Chapter 5

Steph watched as the car pulled out of sight. She knew Melinda was nervous about her request but there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she’d be fine; she could find no reason why she wouldn’t and her past showed it. Her only concern was what would happen if Melinda ever learned about her past.  
At the moment though she had other problems; her dorm was off campus; close to three miles down the road and she had no way to get there. She didn’t have a car, it was still way too early for any busses to be running, and taking a cab was out of the question since she had no money on her. The only options left were to walk or try to hitchhike a ride down to her dorm. It was too far to walk and hitchhiking was far too risky; she couldn’t guarantee that she would be stronger than any possible creeps.   
She had been banking on going off with Melinda to start her training and then; being able to run back to her room. The fact that she was stranded also went to show that she had done it again; she had taken it for granted just like she had before. It had cost her then, and here again she was paying the price. She had repeated one of her mistakes of the past and now had to improvise a new plan. Luckily one came to her fairly quick, though she wasn’t particularly keen on it; but she didn’t seem to have any other choice. The majority of the buildings on campus had electronic locks on the doors, and depending on the door students could swipe their student ID card in a reader to open it. Faith House was no different; Steph only hoped that her name had cleared all the proper channels allowing her access to Faith House with her ID. She walked over to the doors, swiped her card in the reader and heard the familiar click of the lock. She walked in hearing the door shut behind her and the click of the lock re-locking.

 

Just inside the entrance was a small library with an assortment of books on different religions. There was also an assortment of board and card games stored in there for entertainment purposes, along with a TV and a couple of video game systems; Faith House was as much a social hub as it was a spiritual. What Steph was most concerned with for the time was the furniture. The library had two couches in it, one along the far wall across from the bookshelves and the other perpendicular to it across from the entrance to the library. The back wall of Faith house was essentially one large continues window that could allow anybody to see in, but the far couch’s position cut off almost all possible angles to see in from outside. Combined with the darkness she could lay down on it and sleep with little chance of being seen. There was hardly a safer place to hide out until morning, so she laid down on the far couch, set an alarm on her phone and drifted off to sleep. 

 

A hazy fog surrounded everything. She didn’t know where she was at first, but then in selected areas the haze began to lift.   
There she saw two girls talking to each other, “I can make you a goddess. I can offer you power beyond your wildest dreams. Why settle on being some small weakling when you can be an all-powerful god.” The first girls tone was alluring and seductive.  
“How?” The second girl responded with genuine interest.  
She could see the two girls clearly but could identify neither; though they were definitely all too familiar, as was the conversation. She began to realize what she was seeing, and the scene became hazy again as another section of hazed lifted, and a new scene began to unfold before her that again, was very familiar.  
“Steph, where have you been?” The first girl from the prior scene asked as the second girl from before entered the room.  
“I was out with some friends, why?”  
“You are a goddess now, they are beneath you now; they shouldn’t be socializing with you, they should be waiting on you.”  
“Shannon, I’ve been friends with them for a long time; just because I’m not the same as them doesn’t mean I can’t still be friends with them.”  
“Yes it does, they are lowly beings and you are a goddess; and a goddess can’t be associated with vermin. I thought I taught you better than that… wait a second; I know why you were hanging around with them, Emily was with there wasn’t she?”  
“Emily? Yeah she was, along with Leanne, Ashley and Melisa. What difference does it make if Emily was there?”  
“She’s trying to steal you away from me.”  
“Emily and I are just old friends and that’s all; besides I’m with you aren’t I? Are you really that insecure that you don’t trust me?”  
The fogy haze returned; she knew what she was seeing, she now recognized the girls she was seeing. She had tried to repress her past, but now that Melinda had agreed to make her into a werewolf, she was starting down a road that was a part of her past.  
The haze lifted and again she saw herself, this time the second girl she saw was not Shannon, but an old friend; Emily.  
“Steph, you need to wake up; Shannon is just using you. You can’t trust her; it’s just a matter of time before she betrays you.”

The loud beeping from her phone woke Steph from her sleep. She wasn’t crazy about the idea of getting up, nor was she that found of going back to sleep and continuing to be haunted by visions of her past. After quick consideration she decided getting up was the lesser of the evils; going back to sleep not only meant the potential of more haunting visions, but having to answer questions if found in Faith House. Technically, she had done nothing wrong or broken any rules, but it was frowned upon just the same. The busses would be running by now, and her student ID would get her on the bus she needed without having to pay. Half an hour later, she was back in her own room and bed.

She had all morning to sleep in, and after having literally waited up all night for Melinda and barley getting any sleep at Faith House, she was definitely tired and was going to need all the sleep she could get. It was noon by time she got up and ready. The bus up to campus wasn’t crowded compared to when she normally took it; it was a nice change versus being packed in like a sardine, but she hardly noticed it since her mind was on other things. She arrived at her class only to find a note on the door saying that class was canceled.  
She really didn’t feel like returning to her room and instead opted to find a quiet place to sit and read, and the best place she could think of was Faith House. As she approached she couldn’t help but notice all the little critters running about, a few rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels; all scouring about, it was almost as if they were running from her.

“Just hang in there; this time tomorrow you’ll be able to catch them again.” She told herself as she stopped to watch them.  
“Go ahead and run, you’re safe for now.” She added to them trying not to drool as she headed inside.

* * * * *

Steph was waiting at eight o’clock sharp. She was anxious to get things underway but did her best to remain patient. It was a few minutes after eight when Melinda pulled in. She continued to wait patiently as Melinda got out of her car and hide her spare key; it was all she could do to simply remain silent and calm.

“You ready?” Melinda finally asked her as she shut and locked the door.  
“Yep.” She was doing all she could to sound calm and collected but inside she was bursting at the seams with excitement.  
“You’re sure you want this right?”  
“Positive.”

Steph began to mentally curse at herself; she should have been showing some degree of caution and hesitation. To try and quickly sell just that, she tensed her body up and shut her eyes tight -though she doubted that would work. She felt like she must have been showing over the top anticipation; and that could lead nowhere good. She needed to convince Melinda that she was capable of handling it but at that moment, she was convinced that she was coming across as some little spoiled rich teenage brat –a role she was all too familiar with. She thought herself to be portraying somebody who didn’t have the slightest clue about responsibilities or consequences. Melinda was no fool; she would surely see through the façade and change her mind at the last second, but then all at once, all those fears disappeared in a single heartbeat.  
It was at the very moment when she expected Melinda to announce that she had changed her mind when she felt the scratch of something razor sharp, and scratching her just hard enough to break the skin. Suddenly it felt like her body was coming alive with a thousand new sensations. She could hear the slightest ruffle of feathers from a bird perched high atop the trees, he could smell a thousand different aromas coming from all across campus; within the span of a single heartbeat it had all come back to her.

“You should be starting to feel all sorts of new sensations, and they will grow even stronger with your first transformation. Since you already know that we can change at will and not just at the full moon, we’re going to go get started on teaching you to transform and control it. While you won’t be as fast as me, you will be fast enough to just barely keep in touch.”  
“Where’re we going?”  
“Try to think of it as a… training facility.”  
She didn’t have time to ask anything more, Melinda was off and running. Steph took off after her just barely able to keep Melinda in sight the entire time. It seemed a tease to her to know that while she was a lot faster than she had been -and faster than any normal human, she still wasn’t able to go as fast as she knew she could. She took comfort that before long she would be at full strength once again and this little teaser time would be over.

It took a little over an hour but she finally saw Melinda stop and a minute later she was standing right next to her.  
“Here we are.”  
“This is the training facility?” She looked around puzzled at seeing nothing but nature surrounding her. She was standing amid a forest of trees surrounding a clearing with a cave at one end of it.  
“Well technically it is in the back of the cave.”  
“Hmm… Must be that there is something in there, either a cage or chains; personally I’m more into the whip than chains, and not that I’m complaining but I thought I wasn’t going to have to do anything dirty.” She teased.  
“Okay… cage: yes, chains: no, and eww.”  
She laughed at having achieved her desired result and started walking into the cave.

At the back of the cave she found a steel bared cage; she could see that it was built specifically to hold werewolves. All the bars were reinforcing each other and the gaps between them were barley big enough for her to get her hand through as a human, and the other three walls were solid rock. What peaked her curiosity was the lighting that had come on a short way into the cave and ran all the way to the back. She hadn’t seen any wires or switches but yet there was power.

“There is a generator hidden a few feat form the entrance with underground wires running from it into the cave.” Melinda explained as she came along side noting her confusion. “I started it while you were walking in.”  
“So what do we do now?”  
“Well I’m going to lock you in the cage for the safety of yourself and others. Until you can control the transformation you are too dangerous and need to be locked up.”  
“Fair enough.” She commented as she walked into the cage where she stood for a second staring at the back wall. “You really should consider putting chains in here.”  
“They wouldn’t work out. When you transform you grow and by time you’re done transforming, you wouldn’t fit in them. Then the chains would either be too strong; and that would put you into tremendous pain, or they would snap and be useless.”  
“I wasn’t thinking for that purpose.”  
“Again; eww.” Steph just laughed as she walked into the cage.  
Melinda took a key that had been hanging on the wall nearby and locked Steph in the cage.  
“Okay, now it would be in your best interest to completely undress.”  
“What, you’re not even going to buy me dinner first?”

She actually felt like she was being funny, but Melinda didn’t seem to share the humor. She saw Melinda roll her eyes and disregard her last remark as she waited for her to strip down. When she finished undressing she slipped her clothes through the cage bars and Melinda began a series of instructions for her to follow that were meant to trigger the transformation, but she wasn’t listening; she already knew what to do. In no time at all she could feel the changes beginning to take place. Her heart was beating faster, she was growing taller, her nails were growing, the mixed sensations of pain and pleasure; the hunger and wild rage were there and raging strong but she had it in control until a seemingly random thought popped into her mind; her clothes.  
Her clothes lay on the ground outside the cage bars where she had put them. Melinda had only said to undress; she didn’t say anything about where to leave her clothes. If Melinda realized it, it would be the end and her past would come to light; and it was too late to do anything about it.  
In that one instant, with that one thought distracting her she felt her control disappear. She tried to regain it, but it was too late, the wolf was too strong for her to regain control; in that one brief instant she had let her guard down and allowed the wolf to get the hold it needed. She wasn’t strong enough yet apparently; but that would be fixed with time; for now though all she could do was wait, as the wolf in her caused her to thrash about the cage; and then she felt a sudden pinch in her neck and then everything went dark.

 

She watched as the transformation began. Steph had been able to follow her instructions thus far but the real test was yet to come. Triggering the transformation was easy; controlling it was a whole different animal. She kept watch, it appeared that Steph was in control almost the entire time, and then right at the end she clearly wasn’t. She had to admit that part of her was disappointed that Steph hadn’t mastered the transformation on the first try; it had even seemed to be possible for a while. It had appeared that Steph had control through most of the transformation, but in the end she could not control the wolf. To expect Steph to be able to master it on her first try felt a little unreasonable; besides, she was a rookie teacher. Her instructions made sense and worked for her, but that didn’t mean they would work for somebody else. They could be nowhere near accurate enough for somebody else to follow successfully.  
She quickly dismissed those thoughts; she had to be in the ballpark, after all Steph had been able to trigger the transformation based off her instructions. There was every chance that Steph would be able to control it given enough time; she had shown some signs of control and seemed determined to master it, and Steph was not alone in that determination.  
With the thoughts of failure disappearing from her mind, she removed a small handgun from a bag she had brought with her, aimed it at Steph and pulled the trigger. A small dart shot out and with pinpoint accuracy hitting Steph right in the neck. She continued to thrash around for another few seconds then collapsed on the floor. As soon as she hit the floor her body began to revert.

A few minutes passed and Steph began to stir.  
“What happened?” She asked groggily.  
“The wolf got control. It’s not a big deal though, to expect you to be able to control it this quick isn’t all that reasonable; but since you can’t control it yet if the wolf gets control you aren’t going to get it back on your own and will need some extra help. So I shot you.”  
“With what? It feels more like I got hit on the head with a frying pan.”  
“Well the shell is a tranquilizer dart, but there were no drugs in it, instead it was silver nitrate.”  
“Silver nitrate?”  
“Another benefit of being a werewolf is our immune system. I don’t understand why, but the wolf strengthens our immune system drastically –in fact I bet we could beat cancer or aids. Anyway, that super strong immune system makes us strong enough to fight off the silver nitrates poisonous side effects with minimal side effects. And actually the hangover like symptoms that you’re feeling are being caused by the silver.”  
“Silver?”  
“We’re highly allergic to it; I don’t understand why, it’s just part of being a werewolf I guess.”  
“Then why use silver nitrate?”  
“You have to heat silver to over 1,000o for it to be liquid, so the next best thing is a silver compound and the easiest one to get is silver nitrate. It is easy to acquire and the only thing about it that is remotely dangerous to us is the silver.  
“Now you’re probably thinking that means a silver bullet can kill you -and you’re right, but it’s not the silver that kills you, it’s the bullet. Any kind of bullet -silver or not- can kill you; for that matter, anything that is deadly to a human is just as deadly to a werewolf in human or wolf form. For the most part though, silver is not deadly to us, though a large enough concentration would result in a very painful death. Instead, silver will just cause all sorts of adverse reactions; for instance the silver in the dart I shot you with renders the wolf’s mind inactive, essentially knocking it out. But since both the wolf’s mind and yours are the same it takes you with it.”  
“How’s that?”  
“The wolf is really just a part of the brain that is very primitive and predatory. In a normal human that part of the brain is essentially dormant. The physical side; the transformation, strength, heightened senses, are all a reaction to viruses -for lack of a better term. How they trigger the transformation I don’t know, nor do I have a clue as to how they came about; but those same “viruses” cause a chemical shift in us that awakens those dormant areas of the brain. Problem is those areas are very strong and powerful which is why it can take over the rest of the mind so easily.   
“The sliver I hit you with caused the “viruses” to essentially pull back and retreat to a dormant state for a short time. Again, I don’t understand what it is about silver that causes this to happen, but with them on the run they can’t cause the chemical shift that awakens the wolf; nor can they cause or sustain the transformation, the viruses have to be constantly active in order to sustain them. Then unable to work their “magic” if you will, the chemical shift slowly wears off forcing the wolf back into a weakened state, and allowing you to have control over your body again.  
“The whole thing is actually rather complicated, and believe it or not I’m actually over simplifying it; the longer more complicated version requires me to try to explain how the viruses use the chemicals shift to control the wolf, and how the brain controls the transformation of the body. The viruses carry out the actual work, but the brain is what tells them to do it, and when to stop. Without that command, they stay active and continue to slowly transform the body.   
“The best analogy I can give you is that they come out of the gate very fast making the changes that they do quickly. Then they run out of energy to make changes with and have to settle in and make the changes at a much slower rate. If left to their own in a living body they would eventually transform it to the point that you are basically all wolf. Of course they can’t do anything if you’re dead, in that case your body is stuck in whatever form you were in when you died.

“So what do we do now?”  
“Now we wait five minutes or so for the silver to wear off and try again.”  
“So since we have some time on our hands why don’t you tell me about how you became a werewolf?”  
Melinda wandered away a few steps and stared out into the rest of the caver just staring into empty space.  
“Not much of a story;” she began distantly, “I was sixteen when it happened. I had always heard stories of monsters and vampires and werewolves; even watched the movies from time to time, but back then it was all fiction. It was a normal day; I got out of school went home and did my homework just like any other day. I got it done with plenty of daylight to spare and it was absolutely beautiful out, so I decided to go for a walk. There was a small park just down the road; beautiful scenery, plenty of sports fields for guys to play on and it was the perfect day for some friendly afterschool games so there was bound to be plenty of good looking boys around.  
“I had been there for maybe half an hour when I heard the screaming. I turned to see what was happening and what I saw was the largest, mangiest looking dog I had ever seen. I was frozen in my tracks with fear and didn’t move; I made myself an easy target. It attacked biting and scratching me. I fought back best I could and managed to fend it off, but it was too late by then. That night as I slept visions plagued my sleep, a wild uncontrolled hunger, primitive carnal urges; I woke up in terror with clod night sweats more times than I could count. The next day I began noticing the changes but didn’t see them for what they were and blamed it on a bad night’s sleep brought on by the attack. That night I couldn’t sleep so I went out for some fresh air; it was a clear night and the full moon was shining brightly. Next thing I knew I was transforming.  
“After that I began learning all I could about werewolves. But what taught me the most was all the other werewolves I’ve met; they taught me most of what I know. For instance, they taught me that the dog that attacked me was really a werewolf that had lost all control. As I said, the viruses change our bodies quite a bit when we transform, and after that they continue to alter it but at a very slow rate to make it more wolf like; with their all their progress is erased each time we revert back to human. The wolf that attacked me had lost control and could not revert to human so the viruses had been able to transform that person’s body to the point that they had become all wolf and looked like a wild mangy dog. They had no control over what they were doing; in fact, the original person was completely gone.  
“Anyway, as time went on I learned to control it; I got lucky that entire time, very lucky. In all the times I was a wild out of control beast I never killed or sired anybody.”  
“Until Sam that is right?”  
“Yeah, until Sam…”  
“So, I think we’re ready to try again.” Melinda said as she turned around to face the cage again. 

Steph stood up and again began the transformation. Again though she came up just short on control and again Melinda shot her. It wasn’t until her fifth try that Steph demonstrated full control. Melinda was shocked, she had expected Steph to make baby steps here and there and that the whole process would take at least a month. She instructed Steph on how to transform back and after a few more times of transforming into a werewolf and back she was satisfied that Steph could control the transformation.

“Okay, you clearly have that down and a lot quicker than I ever would have predicted.”  
“What can I say; I guess I’m just a quick learner.”  
“Well the next thing I want to work with you on is bringing out individual traits. The wolf is rarely dormant; it is almost always trying to find a way out. It will look for anyway out it can find. All it needs is one small foothold and then it can get another and before you know it is getting stronger and it becomes harder to fight back making it easier for the wolf to win, and dominate you. Once you know how to pull out the various traits without fully transforming you’ll be able to recognize when the wolf is trying to come out; you’ll be able to feel the transformation occurring and be able to stop it.”

They spent another hour working on drawing out the various traits one at a time and in groups. Steph had shown such progress so quick that it was clear to Melinda that training Steph would only take one night. By time they were done, it was close to 11:30; the whole night still lay ahead; it was remarkable how quick Steph had caught on.  
“You know I’ve got to say how remarkable it is that you’ve caught on and almost mastered all of this so quickly.”  
“What can I say, guess you’re just a good teacher.”  
“Maybe, I’ve never done this with anyone before so it’s kinda hard to tell if I’m any good.”  
“What about Sam? How long did it take her to catch on?”  
“She didn’t, well she kinda did. She wants nothing to do with being a werewolf. She knows enough to protect herself against the wolf, and will lock herself up at the full moon; but that is it.  
“Why?”  
“The moon has a powerful influence over us -I don’t know why, just another crazy wolf thing I guess, but and the closer it gets to full the more powerful it becomes. The lunar cycle isn’t noticeable on a night to night basis. You can’t always see the difference in the moon each and every night. Over the course of a few nights you can notice it, but the night to night is subtle enough that chances are you will not be able to notice. If you look at a calendar that marks the quarters of the cycle on it, the nights that it marks as the full moon are when it is at its peak, and it is truly a full moon. The nights on either side of a full moon are powerful enough to make us transform whether we want to or not and does not allow us to transform back until morning when the sun actually rises.   
“And then on the full moon itself it is even worse. Not only do you transform, but it goes further than normal. Any time you transform it will not go as far as it does during the actual full moon. When full moon time comes around you may want to lock yourself up until you are certain you can handle it.”  
“Why?”  
“The moon causes the “viruses” to go into overdrive and the chemical shift goes further giving the wolf the strength to take control. But then, when the moon sets, it not only puts the “viruses” back to normal allowing the shift to move back to normal levels, and it sends the “viruses” into a temporary retreat much like what the silver I’ve been shooting you with does. That only last for a few hours then it is back to normal. If you transform under the power and influence of the moon and lose control you will regain it once the moon’s hold has been broke.”  
Melinda paused for a minute to let this last bit of information sink in.  
“Well, that’s everything I know about werewolves. Any questions?”  
“Just one; want to go on a date?”  
“What?”  
“You know, go hunting; you can show me all the good spots. Besides, I don’t know about you but I haven’t had anything decent to eat all day and I’m hungry.”

Melinda stood staring at Steph, she had been caught completely off guard; she didn’t know how to respond or what to think. Perhaps if Steph hadn’t opened with her smart-ass joke she would have been able to process the proposal better. Instead, she stood dumbfounded for a minute or so before she caught on.

What shocked her most wasn’t the fake attempt by Steph to hit on her (she was used to those remarks; Steph used them all the time around her friends); what really shocked her the most was how quickly the wolf’s hunger had manifested itself, and how quickly Steph had accepted and embraced it. When she thought about it, there were a lot of things that were shocking regarding Steph and werewolves. She pushed those thoughts aside for the moment; she too was a little hungry, and decided it would be nice to go for a hunt and have some company along for a change.

“Sure why not.” 

Melinda had cleared her mind only long enough to agree to the hunt, and in no time at all her mind was back on Steph and werewolves. In the back of her mind the wheels were spinning in overdrive trying to figure out why there were so many shocking things about this. On the surface however she was cool and comfortable as she began to undress.

“Wow, first date and were both already getting naked. If I had known you were this easy I would have made a move a long time ago.”


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When she woke the next morning it was almost noon, she’d stayed out late with Steph hunting and exploring the area near the cave; she didn’t get back to her room till just before daybreak. Naturally being tired she’d collapsed on her bed and fallen right to sleep. When she got up she quickly realized that she was still wearing the same outfit from the day before, and that she was in needed a shower very badly. Her body still felt tired but she wasn’t about to waste the whole day sleeping.

She grabbed her towel realizing it was the last clean one she had; she needed to do laundry, she was probably low on everything else as well.  
“Well look who’s finally up; stayed out all night I take it?” Leda called over from the kitchen as soon as she stepped out of her room.  
“Yeah, something like that.” She muttered back as she closed her bedroom door behind her.  
“So what’s his name?”  
“Huh?” She stopped to look at Leda.  
“The boy that kept you out all night; the boy that you were out with and didn’t bother texting me about.” Leda said accusingly.  
“There was no boy, just a very late party.”  
“Must have been one heck of a party, and on a school night? What time did you get in?”  
“Late, very late; I didn’t bother noting the time.”  
This wasn’t the first time she’d stayed out all night and had to face her best friend’s mocking accusations.  
“So now that you’ve missed half your classes for the day got any plans for the rest?”  
“I don’t know; shower, afternoon classes, homework, TV, mass and dinner.”  
“Want to catch a movie?”  
“Anything good playing?”  
“I’d have to check, but we need to do something today, I can’t just sit around and do nothing all day.”  
“After my classes I’ll see how much homework I have and get back to you.”  
“Fine, but if you blow me off today I swear I’m gonna drag you to the mall or something tomorrow.”  
Melinda let the threat pass as she walked into the bathroom.

When she got out she headed straight back for her room only to find that she had forgotten herself and locked the door with her keys still in the room. She took a quick look around and slipped out a claw and inserted into the lock. A few seconds later she had the lock picked and was back in her room. She plopped herself back down on her bed and turned on the TV. Some movie was on and she paused for a second to see if it was any good, and quickly got her answer. It was some vampire/werewolf movie; she hated those, they rarely portrayed the werewolf in a fair light and just about always made them out to be some horrible beast. She was too lazy to change the channel though and dealt with it. She knew that she needed to get up and moving so she could get to class, but she was still tired and before she knew it Leda was pounding on the door and yelling her to get a move on.  
Completely clueless Melinda got up and answered the door.

“What?”  
Leda looked at her surprised. “You didn’t go to class did you?”  
“What are you talking about; I’ve still got time before I have to leave.”  
“No; you missed them already.”  
“What?”  
When last I saw you it was maybe 12:30 at the latest and you were walking from your room to the shower, and here you are still wrapped in a towel at 5:30:”  
Melinda turned to look back over her shoulder at her clock; Leda was right.  
“Dam.”  
“Hurry up and get dressed or we’ll be late to mass and dinner.”  
“Okay, okay; give me ten minutes.”  
“You’ve got five before I leave without you.”

 

When she got back from Mass and Dinner she knew that she needed to do some homework. Her day was essentially over and even though she’d skipped all her classes that day she was still a little behind on homework –not counting what would have been assigned that day. She would be up late doing what she needed for the next day, but it had been worth it.

The next day she spent every chance she got working on her homework so she could get caught up, and be free that night, and the rest of the weekend. By 5:00 she had it all done. With the rest of the day ahead, and wide open she waited patiently for Leda to finish up her own homework. About 5:30 Leda finally came out of her room.

“Homework’s done; I’m free for the rest of the night.  
“So what will it be? Mall?”  
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Leda readily agreed.  
“Okay, you got 15 minutes to get ready then.”

An hour later they arrived at the mall and began to browse from store to store. They purchased a few things along the way, but were mostly window shopping. Once they were hungry enough and ready for a break they hit the food court so they could keep an eye out for any cute guys. After dinner they hit a few more stores before deciding to return to campus.

 

The rest of the weekend past by without any major happenings; Melinda and Leda simply hung out and goofed around. Late Sunday evening they sat in their living room, watching TV as they unwound from the day. Suddenly Leda muted the TV.

“You know what she should do, throw a party; it’s been awhile since we had everybody over.”  
“Why not next weekend then?”  
“Friday or Saturday?”  
“Probably better Saturday. We’ve got the soup kitchen in the morning Saturday. If we have it Friday half of us are going to be too tired to get up.”  
“Okay, Saturday then. The usual gang?”  
“Yeah, but I want to invite Steph.”  
“Okay, sure. And not that I’m complaining but why?” Leda’s tone was inquisitive.  
“I’ve been hanging out with her a little the last few days and we been getting along pretty good; I think she’d fit in good with the gang. Plus I think she feels a little alone and left out; I kinda get the impression she doesn’t have too many close friends here.”

It had been a spur of the moment idea to invite Steph, and Melinda was half making up her reasons for the invite; but to her surprise, she felt as though there was something to what she was saying. Steph frequently kept to herself and never talked about anybody that she knew. And while she hadn’t been actually hanging around with Steph any extra other than the one night, she did feel the need to bring her into the group; being a werewolf now -and seeming to embrace it in the same way she did, Melinda felt as though they should more or less stick together, almost like she and Leda did.

Leda shrugged it off, “Sure, anybody else?”  
“I want to make sure Sam comes. She hasn’t come to one of our parties in ages.”  
“Good luck with that? She always has something going on.”  
“That’s where you come in. You tell her about the party and if she doesn’t want to or can’t come you grab her and drag her here whether she likes it or not.”

Leda and Melinda both burst out laughing; that was always there plan to try and get Sam to attend their parties, and while they had tried that a few times it never worked. Sam had always found a way to wiggle free.

“No way, two parties ago I tried and she stomped on my toe so hard it was still bruised and sore two weeks later. It’s your turn.” Leda said between laughs.  
“Oh no, I had to get her last time and she tore my top off trying to get away. I had to walk from the far side of campus back to here.”  
“Boo-hoo.”  
“One; it was one of my favorite tops, two; it was a bare back and three; it was freezing cold out, there was still snow on the ground. So to summarize I had to walk bare-chested across campus in freezing cold weather.”  
“I’ll sympathize with you on losing one of your favorite tops but that’s it. You’re the fool that should have been dressed warmer.”  
“Okay, you know I don’t feel the cold like you.”  
“Freak.” Leda said teasingly.  
“Fuck you.” Melinda responded tossing a couch pillow at Leda hitting her dead on. “And it’s still your turn.”  
“No way, I tried last time and she bit me. So fuck that, you’re the one that wants to make sure she comes, you have to do the dirty work.” Leda through back but Melinda’s reflexes were too good and she leaned out of the way.  
Melinda got up to retrieve the pillow as she continued. “No, no, no; the way it works is if either one of us wants to make sure she comes to the party we take alternating turns, regardless of who it is that wants her to be there.”  
“I’ll make you a deal then, you get her this time I’ll get her the next three.”  
“Fat chance, by my tally you should be getting her not only this time but the next nine to follow. Every time I accept that deal and the next time comes around you come up with some excuse and I have to be the one to drag her here. No deal.” She threw the pillow at Leda again, and again hit her dead on again.  
“Together then?”  
“The last time I agreed to that you didn’t show at all, and the time before that you bailed on me as soon as she started to say no.  
“No; I want her to come and it is your turn, there is nothing you can say or offer you can make to get out of it; your turn.”  
“Fine, but if she bites me you’re paying for the tetanus shot and stitches.” Leda threw the pillow back at Melinda but again missed.  
“First off, you suck, and second, if she bites you chances are she won’t break the skin; and even if she does you’re going to have worse things than a shot and stitches to worry about. Plus I’m fairly certain she won’t be biting you.”

 

Monday morning rolled round and Melinda went about her normal routine. The day went quick and before she knew it, she was done with her final class of the day. An hour later she was done with her homework, and able to kick back and relax. She looked at the time; another half hour and she would start dinner for herself and Leda.  
She let her mind wander from one thought to the next, and as it wandered it came round to Steph, and the realizations she’d made the night before. She wondered what Steph would be doing right about then.

She had taken to being a werewolf instantly, and had been anxious to go hunting. Melinda suspected that Steph probably had gone out again the last few nights -and would probably be exhausted from staying out all night, and getting little rest in that time. Melinda remembered clearly when she had gone through that phase; once she had learned to control the wolf she spent night after night out prowling and hunting. She could remember the thrill that it brought and the endless fatigue that had accompanied it. Like Steph she had been alone, and that had been the worst part. Now more than ever she was glad that she was inviting Steph to the party; but despite that, she still felt compelled to do a little more.

Her revelations had hit her hard; here was a fellow wolf who could easily be a good friend to her, and she was barley recognizing her. While the novelty of being a werewolf had worn off for Melinda a long time ago, she felt compelled to be there for Steph, as she grew used to being a werewolf.  
She decided that she would find Steph the next day and invite her over for dinner, and then maybe later go out prowling with her. Melinda further decided that if indeed Steph was essentially all alone, that she would bring her into her own close-knit group of friends so that she would not be alone as she had once been.

When Melinda had first come to Albany she had been all alone with no friends, it had been a very lonely and miserable time; it was not an experience she wanted to repeat, and not one she wanted to see others go through. Things had turned around for her when one day she caught the smell of something absolutely delicious smelling in the air. She followed it back to Faith House and discovered The Newman Association along with Mass and Dinner. She had been quickly welcomed and after a few weeks began to fall in with them. She could remembered how much happier she became no longer being alone, and the more she got to know the people of the Newman Association the happier she felt. That was what was needed for Steph; a tight circle of friends.

Melinda looked up at the clock, half an hour had passed, it was time to start dinner.

 

She tried to find Steph the next day and again on Wednesday, but couldn’t. Their paths rarely crossed during the day as it was, but she should have been able to pick up Steph’s scent. She attributed not finding it to being unfamiliar with Steph’s scent, and to many others mixing in with it. Finally on Thursday she caught up with Stpeh at Faith House for Mass and Dinner; she invited Steph over for dinner the next night and the party on Saturday.  
Melinda wanted to get a chance to talk with her in private so she could see how she was handling being a werewolf, but couldn’t find time to get her alone; and when her back was turned Steph left for the night. She had told Melinda that she had plans for the next night and couldn’t make dinner –she felt safe guessing what those plans were, but to count on her for the party.

Melinda spent the remainder of the night at Faith House in an all-night Monopoly marathon. When she finally left it was 11:00, the night was young and all too perfect to just simply go back to her room and go to bed. Instead she went and got her car, drove it over to Faith House and by 11:30 was off. By 7:30 the next morning she had gotten back to her apartment, showered and eaten a light breakfast -despite a successful hunt that night. Leda emerged from her room at 7:45 Melinda wasn’t much of a morning person normally, but Leda was far worse than she was. Whenever she happened to be up and ready for the day before Leda was even out of bed she made it a point to act extremely upbeat, energetic and cheerful, as if she were naturally a morning person; it was her favorite way to irritate Leda.

“Good morning sunshine, ready to start the day.”  
“Bite me.” Leda responded and walked into her bathroom.  
Melinda walked over to the door and in a serious tone called in to Leda, “Hey are we both taking our cars over to Faith House or just yours?” She heard the shower turn on.  
“I think we need to take both, there were a lot of people on the sign-up sheet and a handful more on the Facebook event.”  
“How many we expecting?”  
“Last I checked I think we were looking at 22 or 23.”  
“That many? Wow. How many drivers do we have?”  
“Well Nicole said she was going and her car can take three, I can take three, Sam is obviously going and can take three, Fr. Paul can take two.”  
“Cathy should be able to take another three and Matt has his truck that can take five.”  
“With drivers that’s 24, so you should take your car just to be safe.”  
“You got directions to this place?”  
“Kinda, Kaitlyn tried giving me directions there Thursday. Cathy is going to print out copies of the directions for each of the drivers, so we should be fine.”  
“We’re supposed to meet for 8:30 right?”  
“Yeah, meet for 8:30, leave by 9:00; be there at 9:30.”  
“What time we getting back?”  
“I think 3:00 or 4:00.”  
“So I figure then we should hit the store for 5:00 and tell everybody to start showing up tonight for around 10:00.”  
“Sounds good, but just to be on the safe side we should just drop off our passengers at Faith House instead of driving all around campus to drop them off. Otherwise we could be another half hour before we can hit the store and we’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready; we’ve been pretty slack about the cleaning around here lately.”  
“Well we’ve both been pretty busy, what’d you expect?  
“Hey, you said you would ask Sam for me about the party; what’d she say?”  
“She said she’s coming. You’re off the hook for now.”

 

The morning went as scheduled, they arrived at Faith House a little after 8:30 and as expected, they both were needed to drive. The Newman Association was as much a service group as it was social and on this day they were volunteering at a local soup kitchen. Melinda had been shocked to see such a large turnout on the part of Newman and ended up cramming five people into her car not counting herself.  
The one benefit though was that with such a large turnout no one would have to do a whole lot of work. She had volunteered to work in the kitchen to help with the preparation of the food, and the clean up afterwards. She regretted the choice, when after everyone had been served she found herself having to scrub out a couple of pots. She was working on a particularly difficult one that was filled with water when Leda came back into the kitchen. She had been serving tables and was helping clean up the serving line; and now had several serving spoons in hand and an evil look on her face.

Melinda looked up and knew instantly what Leda was about to do. “Don’t you dare.”  
Leda only took it as a challenge and from five feet away tossed the spoons into the pot like she was shooting a basketball into a net, the splash was considerable.  
“You fucking bitch.”

Melinda grabbed the sinks spray hose and took aim at Leda blasting her with a large spray of water right in her face. Leda retreated out of the kitchen but only returned moments later with more serving utensils that she tossed in the pot, again making plenty of splash. Melinda reached into the sink and grabbed a handful of gunk and through it right at Leda, again scoring a direct hit. Leda responded by grabbing a bunch of garbage form a nearby can and tossed it at Melinda. An all-out war had started.  
Melinda grabbed a nearby cup, dipped it into the pot she had been scrubbing and threw the glass of water at Leda. She ducked out of the way and out of sight sneaking up behind Melinda. Even though she couldn’t see Leda she was on high alert and by time she realized what Leda was up to when it was too late. Leda was reaching around her with a fist full of the same gunk that Melinda had thrown at her, and tossed it down the front of Melinda’s shirt. She stiffened with surprise and turned to face Leda who was quickly escaping. This time Melinda grabbed the pot she had been scrubbing and tossed the water in it at Leda. Most of it missed but a fair bit got Leda along her back. Melinda watched as Leda went running out of the kitchen through a side door and declared herself the winner of that round, but Leda would be back before long.

Throughout the course of the battle both she and Leda had been screaming and screeching with each successful hit. It had gotten the attention of others, and they had begun gathering at one of the doorways to see what was happening. Melinda kept a careful eye on that doorway expecting to see Leda come running back through any moment. She would not be caught with her guard down; she knew Leda wouldn’t give up so easily and let her win just like that, and she wasn’t about to surrender either. A minute passed and the crowd went back to work as did Melinda. She returned to working on scrubbing out the pot when she heard footsteps approaching form behind. She once again grabed hold of the pot and hurled the water she had just filled the pot with at Leda; only it wasn’t Leda, instead she saw the adviser to Newman, Cathy.

“There is no way I smell that bad. I just took a shower this morning.”  
“Sorry Cathy, I thought you were Leda.”  
“It’s my own fault, I saw Leda come running out of here and I should of known you two were up to no good.”  
“Hey, she started it.”  
“DID NOT!” Leda yelled in from around the doorway where she was hidden.  
“YES YOU DID! YOU THROUGH THAT SPOON INTO MY POT OF WATER TRYING TO SLPASH ME!” Melinda yelled back.  
“YOU WERE TAUNTING ME THIS MORNING!”  
“Scary thing is I share an apartment with her.” She commented to Cathy.  
“How do the other two put up with you?”  
“They tend to just stay out of it and try not to get caught in the crossfire.”

Just then a wave of water hit her from behind. While she took the brunt of it, some flew past her and hit Cathy. When Melinda turned around, she saw a serving pan lying in the pot and Leda fleeing once again. Cathy tried to grab Melinda to hold her back but was too slow as she took off after Leda.

 

The war between Melinda and Leda had continued on for a while with a few additional casualties. By the end they both were soaked from head to toe and covered in filth; nobody wanted ride back with either of them. They spent the rest of their day cleaning their apartment and themselves; the party preparations kept them plenty busy. Right at 10:00 their friends started to show up and by 10:30 the party was in full swing.

Melinda and Leda’s parties involved tons of junk food, games, a small assortment of alcoholic drinks and music. After Thursday night’s Monopoly marathon at Faith House Melinda, Leda, Sam, Steph and a few others got a game of Monopoly going each looking to even some score against someone else from the Thursday. As the night went on other people got other games going but the Monopoly game kept going, though it was down to Melinda, Leda, Sam and Steph. Each held a color group that was fully developed, and each was low on cash. The game had managed to gather the interest of a handful of spectators who were interested to see how it would work out.

Melinda finished her turn narrowly missing Boardwalk with a hotel on it. Breathing a sigh of relief she passed the dice to Sam.  
She rolled the dice, “Yes!” She exclaimed as she landed on one of her own properties.  
“You’re not out of the woods yet.” Steph pointed out, “Three spaces and you hit Park Place, Five spaces and you’re on my Boardwalk.”  
“Luck’s been on my side so far, so I’ll be fine. It’s Leda that’s in danger.” Sam passed the dice to Leda as she said it, “She rolls ten and she’ll be there and she’s been rolling those high numbers all night.”  
“Gee thanks for pointing that out. Now I’m jinxed.” Leda rolled the dice; eight -in the form of double fours, she’d landed on the next worse thing, Park Place. By time she could raise the money she’d sold off all her houses and mortgaged all her properties.  
“Thank you very much.” Steph said smugly as she accepted the money from Leda.  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah; bite me.”  
“Tell you what; if it makes you feel any better should you roll a two I’ll kiss you.”  
“I think I’d like to see that.” Melinda commented.  
“C’mon snake eyes.” Sam added.  
Leda rolled the dice and nobody could believe what they saw, a single dot sitting on top of each die.  
“WHAT! HOW THE FUCK IS THAT POSSIBLE!”

Steph leapt clear across the table to wear Leda sat and planted a huge kiss right on her lips. The scene was almost right out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon and the entire room burst into laughter as a shocked Leda pushed Steph off her as her shock turned into anger. Melinda knew that Leda didn’t care that she’d just gone bankrupt and would finish last in the game –it was just a game after all; she even could have dealt with the kiss, it was just Steph trying to be funny. She knew what bothered Leda was the combination of all it; Steph was rubbing it in in a humiliating fashion, and that was too much.  
She got up and charged round the table. Everyone in the room was still laughing despite being able to read the look of danger in Leda’s eyes. Steph saw it and immediately began to move away laughing all the while.

“What’s wrong? Do I need to work on my technique or something?” Steph taunted Leda.  
The taunts only enraged Leda more, and Steph found herself weaving through the guests and climbing over furniture. By this time most everyone in the room had had a considerable amount to drink and where fairly drunk, making the whole episode funnier to watch as Steph and Leda both struggled to make it through the crowd.  
“It’s not my fault you’re bankrupt.”  
Leda lunged at Steph but missed.  
“Somebody’s certainly a sore loser.”  
Steph was moving at just the right place to stay just one step beyond Leda’s range at all times, laughing as she went; the crowd loved every second of the chase.

“$20 says Leda catches her.” Sam said to Melinda as they watched from the table.  
“Nah, there’s a reason Steph keeps taunting her; she knows what she’s doing all too well.”  
“So it’s a bet then?”  
“I’ve got my eyes on an amazingly delicious pair of shoes at the mall, but they’re quite pricy, so make it $40 and you got yourself a deal.”  
“High stakes, but $40 it is.”

The chase continued for another five minutes. Leda was always within a step of catching Steph, but always just that one step too far away. They both stumbled around and through the crowd and over the furniture before Leda finally gave up. Steph realizing she had achieved victory decided to re-ignite the fire just to rub salt in the wound. As Leda returned to her seat Steph came over and gave Leda another kiss just as before and proceeded to run right for the door, down the hall and down the stairs with Leda in fast pursuit.

“The bet still holds; the chase isn’t over yet.” Sam informed Melinda as they watched Leda go racing out the door.  
“Doesn’t matter, she’s still not going to catch Steph. And either way I want to see how this goes.”

Melinda got up out of her seat and followed the rest of the partygoers out into the hall. Leda and Steph were already out of the building and racing around the grounds. No sooner did she catch up with the rest of the group she saw Steph taking off with a lot of speed. Part of her wanted to laugh at Leda’s failed attempt to catch Steph, but she was far more concerned with the speed at which Steph had escaped. No human should have been able to get away that easily and that quick. Steph had just taken a huge risk in her escape; Melinda prayed that nobody would realize just how fast Steph was going; everyone was fairly drunk, so they probably wouldn’t realize and/or remember just how fast Stpeh had been.

“Well I guess I owe you some money.” Sam commented as she stood watching Steph taking off.  
“I guess you do.” Melinda responded dryly; she was too distracted by her worry over Steph to truly pay attention to Sam.  
“This is your fucking fault!” Melinda heard somebody screaming at her. She snapped back to reality to see Leda fuming at her.  
“What?”  
“It was your fucking idea to invite that bitch; therefore this is your fault.”  
“Ok, you’ve only done how many humiliating things to me in public? Don’t tell me you can’t take what you dish out?” Melinda was chuckling.  
“Name one.” Leda dared her.  
“Ok well in the last month you’ve pantsed me at least three times.”  
“I was drunk each time, and you deserved it.”  
“How do you figure?”  
“You wouldn’t let me go after that bitch that stole that cute boy away from me that I had been hitting on.”  
“That was his fiancé.”  
“Then there was an incident where you wouldn’t let me go over to that hot guy and chat him up.”  
“That was a week later, you were even drunker, and it was the same guy from the week before.”  
“And then there’s the time you wouldn’t let me go mess up that fucking whore that called me a fat, ugly, cunt.”  
“That was Sam being sarcastic; you have a really terrible memory when you drink.”  
Leda bit down on the words she wanted to say and remained silent before coming up with an acceptable and appropriate response. “Well you still deserved it.” She spat back; she turned around and stormed off pouting.  
A few steps later she called out to everyone, “Parties over.”


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The week passed, Melinda went hunting with Steph a couple of times and was beyond thrilled. She finally had somebody to share her secret with, somebody that treated it the same way she did, she was no longer alone in her world. The novelty of being a werewolf was returning to her, and to top it off it had been two weeks since she last heard about any wild animal attacks. Her werewolf world wasn’t the only thing improving for her either, schoolwork was letting up, and she was getting plenty of rest, her friendship with Sam was still a little uneasy and rocky at times, but it had thawed considerably from where it had been. Things were looking up when it all began to unravel.  
It was a Friday afternoon and she was on her lunch break. It wasn’t a long break, she had less than 30 minutes from when she got back to her apartment before she had to be right back out the door; but it was enough time to catch the local news at noon, and what she saw terrified her.

“You may recall a few weeks ago when we reported to you about a wild animal attack in North Hudson. We are just learning that that attack was the first in what has been a steady stream of fatal animal attacks. Now police have been trying to keep it quiet to avoid panic as they try to capture the animal, but now the attacks have escalated.  
“Until now the attacks have been occurring at the edge of smaller towns, but now an attack has happened in a much larger area. Late last night a wild animal attacked and killed two Latham residents within mile of each other. Now the prior attacks had been simple fatalities but these attacks are much worse.

“By time we arrived police had already moved the bodies, but we were told that the victims were horribly mutilated in a cruel fashion. At this time police have not released the names of the victims so that they may contact the families privately.

“A short while ago Latham’s Chief of Police John Smith spoke to the media.”

The image on screen cut to a clip of the Police chief talking to the media.

“At this time it appears that there is a rabid bear on the loose. We are encouraging Latham residents to be very careful when traveling through any urban areas especially at night. This bear is likely to be scared of populated areas that are very dense and busy such as heavy traffic areas. Latham police are working very closely with state authorities that have now come on board to capture and stop this bear before it can harm anybody else.”

The image returned to the live feed of the field reporter.  
“Just before coming on air I had the chance to talk to a man wishing to remain anonymous who claims to have witnessed part of the second attack last night and he claims that what he saw did not resemble anything like a bare at all. According to the witness the animal appeared to be feeding on the second victim when he heard gun fire from what he believes to be another local resident, but never saw the source of the shots that spooked the animal chasing it off.  
“When I asked him what he believes the animal was that he saw all he could say was that it was and I quote, “a huge beast monster”.  
“Now details are slowly beginning to come out about these two attacks and the others over the last two weeks and thus far the one thing that seems evident is that it appears these animal attacks have been slowly making their way down 87 towards Albany.

“Reporting live from Latham I’m Christine Gray; back to John in the studio.”

The live feed cut and went back to the news anchor in the studio.

“Thanks Christine. We’ll have more for you on these wild animal attacks at five and ten.”

Melinda turned the TV off and sat back in her seat. She wasn’t fooled one bit, In theory she supposed a rabid bear could have been responsible, but chances were far too slim. She knew what was behind the attacks, and she knew she needed to investigate and confirm her theory. She was capable of preventing this beast from killing anyone else and felt obligated to do so; once again the cliché was coming to her: “with great power comes great responsibility”.

 

Unaware of any safe spots to transform during the day, Melinda had to wait until nighttime before she could go out and investigate the attacks. Having to wait till night fall gave her time to do some research online about the other attacks that the news had not reported on. Even if the news hadn’t already given her enough to know that all the attacks were linked, her research would have. With each new bit of information, she became more confident that she knew what was behind these attacks, and it wasn’t a bear. Nightfall couldn’t come soon enough.

 

As soon as it was safe she took her car over to Faith House and began to go about her normal routine. She waited before undressing since she’d run into Steph during the day and had told her about the attacks. Steph had quickly agreed to meet her so that they could go investigate the attacks together. Melinda had waited patiently but by time Steph arrived her patience was growing thin, she was anxious to get going. When Steph came casually strolling into the parking lot Melinda checked her watch to find that Steph was ten minutes late.

“You’re late.” Melinda scolded.  
“Sorry but I was held up by the bus.”  
“And you didn’t think to get here earlier? What if I determined it to be safe earlier than what I said?”  
“Melinda, chill. It’s not that big a deal. Whatever is behind these attacks is already gone. We’re just trying to determine what did it.”  
Frustrations were clearly present in Melinda’s voice, “Look we don’t have time for this so hurry up and get ready.” She began to undress followed by Steph.

As soon as both girls had transformed, they were off. It took them no time at all to reach the scene of the first attack. As soon as they arrived Melinda could smell that same group of scents from the first attack.  
It seemed just like the first scene; the scents, the many subtle clues. The difference, this time the scent trail branched off in many different directions. Again, there was nothing conclusive about what was behind the attacks. She soon moved on to the scene of the second attack; the scent trail leading her right to it.  
The scene was again just the same at first, but this time she found a few stray hairs on the ground that the investigators had clearly missed. It was no surprise that the hairs had been overlooked; they were hardly longer than a human eyelash; and if it weren’t for her enhanced werewolf vision, she would have missed them too. As small as they were though, there was no mistaking them; they belonged to a werewolf. Her theories had been correct.  
In the process of searching for more evidence, she came upon a series of bullet holes in a nearby wall. Her mind went back to the news report and the witness who heard gunshots. There were too many bullet holes and they were too closely grouped together to be a civilian trying to be a good samaritan. No, these shots had come from an automatic weapon. The chances of a private citizen having an automatic weapon and this sort of accuracy were very slim. A werewolf hunter was on the loose.

She looked around for Steph but couldn’t find her anywhere; and for now at least, the investigation was over; she headed back to campus. When she arrived back at her car she found Steph there already transformed back, dressed and waiting for her.

“What kept you?” She asked Melinda.  
Melinda only responded by standing in place staring at her.  
“What?”  
Melinda simply grabbed a hold of Steph’s head and forcefully spun her around.  
“Oh fine.” Steph responded indigently as Melinda reverted to human behind Steph’s back. She made it a point to face Steph, she didn’t’ trust her not to try and turn around to grab a quick peak.  
“As for what kept me, I was busy trying to find what was behind those attacks. And speaking of the investigation where were you? Last I knew you were right behind me as we began to pick up that trail of scents.”  
“On a hunch I followed one of the trails that branched off of it, but it turned out to be a dead end. I thought you saw me do that.  
“Anyway when I couldn’t find you I decided to come back here and wait for you.  
“Can I turn back around yet?”  
“No, I’m not dressed yet.”  
“So did you find anything?”  
“I found a few hairs on the ground that are definitely werewolf.”  
Steph stood unmoving, and seemingly unphased by his news.  
“Ok, you can turn back around now.”  
“Sure, now you let me turn around, after I’ve already missed everything.”  
“You’re seriously messed up, you know that right?”  
“Yeah.” Steph retorted back smartly.  
Melinda sighed with disgust then turned the conversation back to the attacks, “Any way, I also learned that there is a werewolf hunter on the loose.”  
This time Steph cringed ever so slightly but said nothing.  
“We’re going to have to be extra careful for a while.”  
“So we just lay low until this all passes?”  
“Not quite; we need to find this wolf and stop her killing spree. We just have to be extra careful to cover our tracks to keep the hunter off our scent.”  
“Why not just lay low and let the hunter take care of the wolf?”  
“There’s a better chance of finding and stopping this wolf with us on the case. Plus we’re more capable of tracking and dealing with her than the hunter is.”  
“So what’s your plan?”

Melinda couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard a touch of nervousness in Steph’s voice; nervousness, not fear. It was subtle; Steph was trying to hide it by putting on a front of confident interference, but the why was puzzling to her. Part of her didn’t want to tell reveal her current plan; but a lot of peculiar things surrounded Steph, and it put her on edge when she thought about it. There was something that Steph wasn’t telling her; and she wondered if somehow Steph wasn’t linked to the attacks.  
She had sired Steph nearly a week after the first attack, so that meant she was innocent of that one, but she still could be responsible for some of the others. But that too was incorrect; while she had only investigated two of the attacks, there were enough elements in common between the Hudson and the Latham attacks that Melinda could comfortably say that Steph was not the attacker, and from what she had read online all the other attacks fit the same pattern; again ruling out Steph as the attacker.  
However, that didn’t mean that she wasn’t somehow indirectly linked to them. Just what that link was, was what troubled her and made her wary to tell Steph her current plan.  
It was a calculated risk either way and she knew it, but she had to make a choice. She decided that she could learn more by telling Steph and watching her closely than if she kept her in the dark.

“Well for now I’m going to go back to my room and go to sleep. Then sometime in the afternoon I’m going back out there to snoop around some more. One of those branches has to lead somewhere and I’m going to find out where.”  
“Don’t you think a werewolf running around in a very public area in the middle of the day might draw a little attention?”  
“Who said I was going as a wolf? Granted my senses won’t be as heightened as they are when I’m a wolf, but they’re still strengthened beyond a normal person just by being a werewolf even in human form. I should have no trouble picking up the trail, especially since I know what I’m looking for. If nothing else I should be able to figure out her pattern.”  
“Wait, what pattern?”  
“I’m not exactly sure, but it seemed like there were certain elements in common amongst the scenes of attack. There’s something beyond those scents that links them together. They’re being chosen for a reason, there is nothing random about these attacks; I just know it.”

* * * * *

She kept saying “her”. Melinda had referred to the attacker as a female. Did that mean Melinda thought she was the attacker? Could Melinda have figured out that she knew more than she was letting on? She had been so careful to keep the full extent of her knowledge and her past hidden. To the best of her knowledge she hadn’t had any more slip ups since that training night in the cave. She wasn’t sure what filled her with dread more; the thought that Melinda was on to her, or that an “old friend” had re-entered her life.  
There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind, she knew that scent all too well and had recognized the instant she smelt it; Shannon. The one person above all that she didn’t want to see again; ever.

 

Melinda had considered asking Steph to join her on her trip back out to Latham, and had sought her out briefly with that intention, but had no luck finding her. She decided in the end that it was probably better to go without her; she was convinced that Steph was covering something up, and the only way to find it out what it was would be to patiently wait and hope for the pieces of the puzzle to fall into place. The only thing that Melinda could come up with was that Steph was hiding something in her past linked her in some indirect way to the attacks, but again the assumption was too vague to really work with.  
The direct approach of telling Steph of these suspicions and asking her to come clean was out of the question. With as hard as Steph appeared to be trying to keep it buried, there was no way she would confess unless faced with the absolute and undeniable truth. Melinda knew that meant she would just have to keep a close eye on her friend and watch her reactions to each new bit of information.

For now though she had other matters to attend to. It was nearly noon, and the normal hustle and bustle of everyday life was in full swing around her as she continued her investigation. She could hear some talk of the attacks, but nothing with any actual substance. The scent trail had weakened, but not vanished. She decided to start at the scene of the encounter with the hunter; from there the scent led through several back alleys with the occasional array of bullet holes in the sides of buildings. She had to hand it to the hunter; he was certainly persistent.  
The trail ended at a department store that had had its front window smashed. Clearly the wolf in its dash for life had broken in and escaped out the back. When she checked around the back she could find nothing, no bullet holes, no signs of a struggle, and worst of all no scent. In that one instance it all fell into place. This wasn’t a rogue wolf, it was a rogue werewolf.

The first scene she had investigated in North Hudson, the matted ground with the strong scent patch. It was where the werewolf had left their clothes before transforming and going into town. They had arrived in town beforehand, walked out into the woods to transform and followed that same path back into town. Each trip in and out of town had been along the same path; this wolf was very cautious. The two attack scenes in Latham were also very similar, a patch of scent with only a single trail leading to it, but no clothes left behind.  
Melinda had lost the trail at the back of the department store so that was a sure sign that the wolf had escaped the hunter by reverting back to human and used the roof tops to escape; but a completely naked person would be a dead giveaway to the hunter. The wolf had obviously grabbed a set of clothes as they ran through the store, then after escaping out the back they must have jumped up onto the roof of the building and back on to the ground in front and ran off from there. Clearly one of the branches off the main trail was the escape route but there were too many to tell which one.  
With no clothes left outside of town that must have meant the hunter must have found and taken them, it would have been too risky for the wolf to go back for them.

Things were getting worse and worse. A rogue werewolf, a werewolf hunter, and a friend who was connected the rogue wolf somehow; she was going to need all the help she could get and all the information she could get, starting with Steph’s secret.


End file.
